Word to KDP: Step-by-Step Formatting Guide

The first and most critical step is setting your Word document to the correct page size and margins for your chosen KDP trim size.

In Microsoft Word:

1. Go to Layout → Size → More Paper Sizes
2. Set Width and Height to your trim size (e.g., 6" width, 9" height)
3. Go to Layout → Margins → Custom Margins
4. Set the following margins:

Font choice significantly affects readability and the professional feel of your book. Here are our recommendations:

To set your default font in Word:

1. Select all text (Ctrl+A)
2. Go to Home → Font
3. Choose your font and size
4. Click Set As Default → All documents based on this template

Using Word's built-in styles ensures consistency and makes generating a Table of Contents possible. Modify these styles:

Body Text / Normal style:

• Line spacing: 1.3 (fiction) or 1.15 (non-fiction)
• First line indent: 0.3" (fiction) or 0" with space after (non-fiction)
• Space before: 0pt
• Space after: 0pt (fiction) or 6pt (non-fiction)
• Alignment: Justified

Heading 1 (Chapter titles):

• Font size: 18–24pt
• Space before: 72pt (adds space above the chapter title — adjust to your trim size)
• Space after: 24pt
• Page break before: Yes
• Keep with next: Yes

Heading 2 (Subheadings):

• Font size: 14–16pt
• Space before: 18pt
• Space after: 6pt
• Keep with next: Yes

Professional books use headers (running heads) to show the book title and chapter name, and footers for page numbers.

Setting up different odd/even headers:

1. Double-click in the header area to open Header & Footer Tools
2. Check "Different Odd & Even Pages"
3. Check "Different First Page"
4. On even (left) pages: Add book title, left-aligned
5. On odd (right) pages: Add chapter title, right-aligned
6. Leave the first page of each chapter header blank

Page numbers:

• Position: Bottom centre or bottom outside corner
• Start numbering from 1 on the first page of Chapter 1
• Front matter (title page, copyright, TOC) uses Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) or no numbers
• Use section breaks to control numbering independently

Professional books include standard front and back matter pages. Here is the recommended order:

Front matter (before Chapter 1):

1. Half-title page — Book title only, centred
2. Title page — Full title, subtitle, author name
3. Copyright page — Copyright notice, ISBN, publisher, "Printed in Great Britain"
4. Dedication (optional)
5. Table of Contents
6. Foreword/Preface (optional)

Back matter (after final chapter):

1. Acknowledgements (optional)
2. About the Author
3. Also By — List your other books
4. Index (non-fiction only)

Section breaks are essential for controlling headers, footers, and page numbering independently in different parts of your book.

Where to use section breaks:

• Between front matter and Chapter 1 (to change page numbering)
• Between each chapter (if you need different headers per chapter)
• Before back matter (to change or remove headers)

How to insert:

1. Place cursor at the end of the section
2. Go to Layout → Breaks → Section Breaks → Next Page
3. For chapters starting on right-hand pages: use Odd Page section break

Page breaks vs Section breaks:

If you have used Heading styles consistently, Word can automatically generate a page-numbered Table of Contents.

To generate a TOC:

1. Place your cursor where you want the TOC
2. Go to References → Table of Contents
3. Choose a built-in style or select Custom Table of Contents
4. Set "Show levels" to 1 (chapters only) or 2 (chapters + subheadings)
5. Ensure "Use hyperlinks" is unchecked for print
6. Click OK

To update the TOC after changes:

Right-click the TOC and select "Update Field" → "Update entire table"

The final step is exporting your Word document as a PDF that meets Amazon KDP's requirements.

In Microsoft Word:

1. Go to File → Save As (or Export)
2. Choose PDF as the file type
3. Click Options and ensure:
  • "ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A)" is checked
  • "Bitmap text when fonts may not be embedded" is unchecked
4. Set quality to "Standard (publishing online and printing)"
5. Save

Verify your PDF:

• Open the PDF and check all pages look correct
• Verify fonts are embedded (File → Properties → Fonts in Adobe Reader)
• Check page size matches your trim size exactly
• Ensure page count is even (add a blank page at the end if odd)